Oil and Conventional Gas Extraction Can Cause Earthquakes Too

The comprehensive study, released Friday by the National Research Council and entitled “Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies,” documented earthquakes associated with a full range of underground energy technologies, including conventional oil and gas wells, geothermal energy, enhanced geothermal, and carbon sequestration. The researchers found that there was a higher rate of quake when those wells were somewhat drained and injected with water or gas to force the remaining contents back up.